Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Snowy Moss And Muddy Chicken Feet


The moss doesn't seem to be bothered by the snow. I took the photo in the afternoon and lots of the snow had melted away because of the rain. More rain is forecast, but tomorrow we are supposed to have a break in the weather.

It has snowed here in May and Tom says it has snowed in June. This snow history gives me a bit of slack when it comes to getting my garden ready and planted. Our weather is a bit unpredictable.

Since we are going to hopefully have a sunny rain free day tomorrow I plan to haul a bunch of leaves and dump them in the chicken pen. I feel so sorry for the muddy footed chickens.

They really want out and hate being locked up. They even stand out in the rain at the end of the pen staring at the door waiting for me to come out and free them. I feel so guilty.

But they are safe if muddy. Because of the holiday and people and dogs not following their regular routines we are going to keep the chickens locked up until thing settle back to normal.

With some luck the fox will have found himself a new place to look for his dinner. Although it may have been a vixen looking for food for her kits.


(March 31, 2009)
Mossy rocks.

[7 eggs today]
Our coop is this close to the house. The bears don't really care. They get mixed signals. Some people scare them away, shoot at them, take photos, and some even feed them. A fed bear is a dead bear because they won't go away and become bold and scare people or worse.



A big Daddy bear could rip that door off. A bear tore apart a goat shed up here to get at the goats. We have been lucky that the bears that have investigated our coop have been bears this size or smaller.
~:>
Smiles

17 comments:

Jayme Goffin, The Coop Keeper said...

oh my gosh! I thought just worrying about raccoons was bad. I can't imagine a bear!!!

Mike said...

Holy cow! you have snow! I feel sorry for you. Good luck tomorrow with your chores. hope the gals can come out soon!

Kateri said...

Your chickens sound just like mine. They hate being locked up. Whenever I walk by the coop, they squawk at the top of their lungs and through themselves against the door to try to convince me to let them out. Feeling guilty, too, but I perfer that they stay alive.

Bears? Oh my gosh. My coop may be fox and raccoon proof, but is is seriously not bear proof. The cubs are so cute, though!

diane b said...

Wow! bears and snow. Great little video. The cubs are cute but the big one looks a bit menacing. I thought California was a warm state.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

We are having record high temps here in Virginia, so you will have to keep your snow to yourself!!:-)

Having lived in Alaska I know all too well how dangerous bears are--People can be so dumb! I may be tempted to take a picture but never give it part of my dinner!

JoyceAnn said...

Hi Callie ~ My chickens better enjoy this week free ranging , we'll be planting the garden by the end of the week and they'll be confined too. I dread hearing their squawking , wish I had the garden fenced in.
The goats are staying in the chicken coop at night until we get them a shed made , guess I need to make sure their shed is bear proof too.

~ Be Blessed ~

Vicki Lane said...

Those muddy chicken feet make for some nasty looking eggs -- I prefer not to have to wash the eggs but in times of mud, there's no choice!

Jen's Farmily said...

Wowza!! I can't imagine having to add 'bears' to the predator list around our house!

I hope you're right about the fox. I know our chickens act like they are depressed when they are stuck inside for days at a time!!

Jen said...

Oh gosh... that bear thing is really scary! I feel guilty too when I dont let the chickens out to free range everynight even though I know they are perfectly fine in their chicken run, lol

Paula said...

That's hard to imagine having snow that late- I hope you have wonderful weather this year!
That's scary about the bear- hope they stay away!

Leigh said...

I got a chuckle reading about your chickens. I can see it in mine too. In fact, I'm having to teach them that they must come in at night!

About those chicken feet, I just read somewhere that the best Jewish chicken soup is made with chicken feet. I admit I was a bit surprised at that. Hopefully they are well scrubbed chicken feet!

Lee said...

That bear is downright scary! I thought that our predators were bad! I'll now complain again.

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

HOw very cool.. A bear and snow.. He/she sure is a curious one...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Little Messy Missy said...

My chicken are hopping around in the snow today! I think I would rather have then that then the mud...hahaha.

Becky's Barnyard said...

The snow and moss is really pretty. Poor little chickens; Mama knows best.

wilbo43 said...

OMG Callie, that's an incredible video. If that bear had been able to open the door, it could have caused some serious damage to your chickens.

Knatolee said...

Wow, the bear video was fascinating!

Hope the fox is long gone!